Andrew Aylward: Young acitvists rally support for DREAM act

Hundreds of young people gathered in the nation’s capitol yesterday for the Campus Progress National Conference, which focused heavily focus on the DREAM act, a bill that could give legal status to thousands of young immigrants. Campus Progress is a progressive political organization that aids activism on college campuses and supports progressive advocacy and is part of the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy think tank in Washington, DC.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act is aimed at addressing the gray area that occurs as children of immigrants grow into illegal status when they reach adulthood. At 2.6 million undocumented persons, California contains one quarter of the country’s illegal immigrants. Currently, San Francisco and Oakland are both sanctuary cities that do not deport illegal immigrants.

Under the bill, children under 16 who have been living in the US for five years prior to the bill’s enactment would qualify for a six-year conditional residency if they complete at least two years at a higher education institution or two years of military service.

A recent study by the Migration Policy Institute found that only 38 percent of those who apply for the DREAM act would be able to meet the required education or military commitment; many immigrants would be unable to pay for tuition or would not be able to leave work or their families.

The law was introduced in 2009 by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Il.) and is co-sponsored by California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, as well as 37 other senators. Republicans are opposing the DREAM act, calling it a legalization of illegal immigration that will increase the flow of immigrants across US borders.

“We need to pass the DREAM act,” said David Halperin, founder and director of Campus Progress. “Build power for your generation and stand up and fight back.”

UCLA student David Cho is one student who is fighting back. Cho drove across the country to deliver a speech on the DREAM act at the conference. He is an undocumented immigrant from Korea who told students at the conference about the challenges of not having legal status as he transitions from college into the job market.

“I feel like I am living inside an invisible prison,” Cho told the crowd. “It’s been more than a year since President Obama promised us fair immigration reform. Mr. President, we cannot wait any longer.”

The advocacy push for young immigrants’ rights and education comes in the midst of a clash over Arizona’s controversial immigration law that makes it a crime not to carry documentation of residency. The federal government has sued Arizona over the law, and Republicans, who are eager to turn immigration reform into an example of Obama and Democrats’ ineffectiveness, will watch closely as the battle plays out.